


As Long as I Live

by surlybobbies



Series: Stay [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-06
Updated: 2018-01-06
Packaged: 2019-03-01 03:52:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13286409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/surlybobbies/pseuds/surlybobbies
Summary: And seven months later, during dinner on a regular Tuesday night at the Roadhouse, “as long as you like” turned into “Cas, what if ‘as long as I like’ is forever?”





	As Long as I Live

**Author's Note:**

> This is a coda of sorts to my last fic, [Stay as Long as You Like](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13272723), though I suppose you could read this alone. (The impact would be much greater if you read the first installment, though.)

Tuesday nights had somehow become date nights. Dean had never been inclined to have a designated “date night” with his long-term partners, but then, Dean had never really had any long-term partners before either. 

At any rate, they had gone to the Roadhouse one Tuesday night after about a month of dating, and when Cas had looked up at Dean in amazement after taking a bite of Ellen’s Classic Burger, and when he gaped at the half-price Tuesday beer specials, date night was informally established - not to mention that Dean had also figured out right then and there that Cas was The One.

Dean had never been inclined to believe in soulmates, either, but like the concept of date night, Cas had been the one to change his belief.

“Should I do the lamb or the beef tonight?” Cas mused out loud, staring at the menu. He asked some variation of this question every week and reread the menu every time despite it never changing.

Dean fidgeted in his chair. It was solid wood, but it was hard against his back. He couldn’t get comfortable. “I wish there were a free booth. Didn’t you do lamb last week?”

Cas frowned a little, brushing his elbow against Dean purposely. “Sitting like this makes it easier for me to take your onions. And yes, the lamb was exquisite.”

Despite the tension in his back, Dean laughed. “Cas, we’re at a bar and grill; you don’t have to pull out the ‘exquisite’ for Ellen.”

“But it’s true,” Cas said, looking appalled that Dean would even suggest anything but. 

“Yes, but she’d do just fine with ‘fantastic’ or ‘amazing.’ Exquisite is for - I dunno - some filet mignon shit in a honeymoon suite of some fancy five-star hotel.”

Cas narrowed his eyes at him. “Is a honeymoon the only time I would get to use ‘exquisite’ around you?”

Dean choked on his beer. Jesus. 

“I also think _you’re_ exquisite,” Cas said blithely, picking up his menu again. “But I guess you don’t want to hear that either.”

Ears hot, Dean patted his shirt with a napkin and mopped up the beer on the table. Seven months. It had been seven months of hearing shit like that and Dean still hadn’t gotten used to it. He didn’t think he ever would. He didn’t think he ever wanted to. He fidgeted again.

Cas was looking at him strangely. “Did I overdo it last night?”

The beer didn’t even get to his mouth before Dean was spilling it, this time on his nice pants. “For fuck’s sake,” he said, putting the glass down again. “No, you did not ‘overdo it.’”

“Then why do you look so uncomfortable?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ellen and Jo behind the bar, watching them and whispering excitedly to each other. “It’s - it’s just warm in here.” He pulled at his collar.

Now Cas’s eyes were concerned. “Are you feeling well? We can leave. The lamb burger isn’t important.” He was already raising his hand to signal Jo. “Gabriel’s no longer in town, so you can stay with me as long as you like.”

“Dammit, put your hand down.” Dean grabbed Cas’s wrist and pulled it down to the table, closing his eyes in mortification. 

“Dean, are you okay?” 

Dean felt him trying to pull his wrist from Dean’s grasp, but he held tight. “Cas.”

Something in Dean’s voice must have gotten Cas’s attention because he stopped trying to pull away. “Yes. Please tell me what’s worrying you.”

Dean opened his eyes, moved by Cas’s sincerity. Cas’s eyes were wide and blue and worried. “I love you," Dean said. "You know that.”

The hand on Dean’s twitched. Cas’s lips pressed together minutely, almost as if in pain, before he said softly, “And I love you. No matter what.” 

What? Dean, his eyebrows furrowed, tightened his grip, eager to assuage Cas’s fears. “Geez, I’m not - I’m not breaking up with you, Cas. I just - you said - just now, you said I could stay with you as long as I liked.”

Cas’s confusion seemed to grow, but he was, as always, patient. “Of course.”

Dean released his grasp on Cas’s wrist and flipped his hand over so Cas’s was sandwiched between both of his. He took a deep breath. “Cas,” he said, his voice cracking. “What if ‘as long as I like’ is as long as I live?”

He watched Cas’s confusion turn into shock. “Wh - “ He took a moment to lick his lips and take a deep breath. “Dean, what exactly are you asking me?”

Dean gave a small, nervous laugh, blinking away the sudden moisture in his eyes. “I’m asking you to marry me.”

Cas stared. His silence in the din of the dining area was jarring. His eyes were wide and so, so blue. “Dean, I - “ his voice broke. He took a moment to breathe, then with a shaky smile, he said, so simply, “Yes.” 

Dean laughed in relief, swiping quickly at his eyes with one hand. “You asshole, you made me nervous.”

“I thought you were breaking up with me,” Cas said, laughing too.

“That’s not going to happen,” Dean said, with no hesitation. 

Cas’s smile grew even wider.

Dean grinned and pulled Cas in with a hand at the back of his neck. He pressed their foreheads together. “You are never getting rid of me,” he said softly.

Cas kissed him then, chaste. “Is that a promise?” he breathed.

“Yeah, Cas,” Dean said, putting a hand on Cas’s knee. “Promise.”

“As long as I live?”

“As long as you live.”

**Author's Note:**

> Rebloggable link [here](http://surlybobbies.tumblr.com/post/169380330826/as-long-as-i-live-deancas-1k-fluff-t).


End file.
